Contraband found in Mendocino County Jail

On Monday, October 15, Corrections Deputy William Hardman was conducting routine rounds in the jail. He allegedly observed a suspicious bundle on the desk in a cell. When he opened the package, he discovered what appeared to be marijuana and tobacco.

Due to the presence of contraband, all inmates were searched and moved out of the housing unit. Corrections Deputy Hardman's K-9 partner, Britt, was escorted through the entire housing unit. Britt alerted to a toilet paper roll and a sock located on a bunk in one of the cells. Inside the toilet paper roll was a tobacco package containing tobacco and marijuana. The sock contained a lighter, cigarette rolling-paper, and six small bundles later determined to contain tobacco, chewing tobacco and marijuana. The total amount of marijuana recovered was approximately 33 grams.

The investigation was handed over to the Sheriff's Office Field Services Division. Inmate Jesse Bacon, 51, of Willits, was charged with possession of controlled substances in a place where prisoners are in custody, possession of drugs or alcoholic beverages, possession of wireless communication device or tobacco products in a local correctional facility, and violation of probation.